Rahab

The present paper is an English translation of the first part of the second chapter of the dissertation: W. Kosek, Pierwotny ryt Paschy w świetle schematu literackiego Księgi Wyjścia 1-18, Kraków 2008, p. 199-246. The second part of it (p. 247-283) will be soon available on Academia.edu in English as the next paper, entitled: The literary scheme of the Book of Exodus 1-18 as the scheme of the Hittite treaties.

The present paper reminds first that the passage of the fire and smoke between the halves of the divided animals (Gen 15:17) was the passage of signs of God who made the covenant with Abram in this way.
Then one proved that that passage is the historical source of interpretation for the analogous passage and covenant-making, namely for the passage of the pillar of fire and cloud, the signs of God who was passing with Israel between the halves of the waters of the Sea of Reeds (cf. Ex 14:15-29).
Then one analyzed the prophet Isaiah’s interpretation concerning that act as the passing between the halves of Rahab/Dragon/Leviathan (Isa 51:5-10) as the reality analogous to animals from Gen 15:17. Then the analyses concerned both the other prophecies of Jeremiah (11:1-8; 7:22-23; 31:31-33) and also Ezekiel’s allegories (16:6-8; 20:5-10; 23:1-49), as the supplement and confirmation of the previous results. The Book of Ezekiel appeared an excellent verification of such an understanding of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer 31:32) that God made a covenant with Israel accurately on the day He took her by the hand to bring her out of Egypt.

DOI of this paper is: 10.5281/zenodo.3280365

In early Israel (1250-1000 B.C.E), the Story of Rahab was told to celebrate her as a host who became an ancestor. Subsequently, in the state of Judah, the Story of Rahab was told to defend her household against a new Joshua named Josiah (640-609 B.C.E.) who tried to excommunicate it for continuing to worship YHWH outside Jerusalem.  By contrasting Rahab’s gracious hospitality, outstanding military skill and profound faith in YHWH with Joshua’s questioning faith and bungling strategy, the storytellers certified that her household should not be exterminated, but continue to enjoy all the rights and privileges of a covenant partner in early Israel.

No biblical text has been more central to the politics of modern Israel than the book of Joshua. Named after a military leader who became the successor to Moses, it depicts the march of the ancient Israelites into Canaan, describing how they subjugated and massacred the indigenous peoples. The Joshua Generation examines the book's centrality to the Israeli occupation today, revealing why nationalist longing and social reality are tragically out of sync in the Promised Land.

Though the book of Joshua was largely ignored and reviled by diaspora Jews, the leaders of modern Israel have invoked it to promote national cohesion. Critics of occupation, meanwhile, have denounced it as a book that celebrates genocide. Rachel Havrelock looks at the composition of Joshua, showing how it reflected the fractious nature of ancient Israelite society and a desire to unify the populace under a strong monarchy. She describes how David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, convened a study group at his home in the late 1950s, where generals, politicians, and professors reformulated the story of Israel's founding in the language of Joshua. Havrelock traces how Ben-Gurion used a brutal tale of conquest to unite an immigrant population of Jews of different ethnicities and backgrounds, casting modern Israelis and Palestinians as latter-day Israelites and Canaanites.

Tanulmányomban Ráháb személyére összpontosítok, ahogyan a
fejezet alapvető forrásában, a Héber Bibliában és annak recepciójában, a hozzá kapcsolódó és azt övező, olykor kortárs korai zsidó (és keresztény) irodalomban megjelenik. Ez a zsidó értelmezési
hagyományon alapuló megközelítés tiszteletben tartja a hagyomány
szőttesének szálait, és bepillantást kínál a Zsidókhoz írt levél szerzőjének műhelytitkaiba. Tanulmányom záró gondolataiban előterjesztek egy javaslatot Ráháb alakja, a Zsidókhoz írt levél egyik szándéka, a nők nyilvános szerepe és az ősegyház oikosz-alapú szervezeti formája kapcsán, ami akár némi fény deríthet a szerzőségre is, legalábbis párbeszédbe bocsátkozik korábbi felvetésekkel.

brief introduction into postcolonial biblical studies - postcolonial exegetical considerations on the connex Ex-Jos - postcolonial exegetical perspectives on Rahab/Jos 2 on the basis of current publications
first presentation of postcolonial studies at the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Deutschsprachigen Alttestamentler*innen (AGAT)

The present paper is a translation of the third part of the third chapter of the dissertation; it shows three main questions. The first part crowns the research effort leading to understanding the literary structure of Passover Seder deeply. Namely, Seder, just like the Book of Exodus, has the literary structure of ancient treaties; they both document the fact that God and Israel made the covenant between the halves of the split waters of the Sea of Reeds. What is more, the Passover Seder makes that four-step liturgical and historical process present for the liturgical participants-it means they participate in those past events with their Fathers. The second part of this paper presents the meaning of the pericope of law to understand the liturgical possibility to make present the events which were or which will be in the time of Israel's history. Especially, one shows here in-depth biblical analyses to explain the anticipatory nature of the Passover supper. Moreover, one explained in this manner the aim of the complexity of the literary arrangement of particular elements of the law pericope. Namely, what seemed to many biblical scholars as a primitive, unnecessary duplication of the events description, turned out to be the fulfillment of the requirements of Hebrew rhetorical rules, especially of parallelism. Then the parallelism occurred to be the means of communicating the reader the anticipatory possibilities of the Passover liturgy. The third part of the present paper states as a summary of the whole research process of the third chapter. It serves to point out key elements of the Passover ceremony and underline their proper understanding. Especially noteworthy is the biblical writer's expectation not to confuse the meaning of the lamb-Passover with the meaning of the bread of going out, i.e., Afikoman. The lamb is the main food of part II of Seder, and its eating serves to fulfill and accept the law of the covenant by the Israelites. Afikoman is the main food-symbol of part III of Seder; it serves as the bread of making the covenant between the divided waters of the Sea of Reeds. The article summarizes the discovery of the four cups/parts of Seder as subsequent elements of the covenant-making ceremony, which God and Israel performed to enter into the relation of spousal love. This paper is the translation of the third part of the third chapter of the doctoral dissertation: W. Kosek, Pierwotny ryt Paschy w świetle schematu literackiego Księgi Wyjścia 1-18 (The original rite of the Passover in the light of the literary scheme of the Book of Exodus 1-18),